GoSolaruLearnWebMailDirectoryMapEventsIndex

Graduate Courses

Class Schedule

Index of Courses


ECON 6030: Introduction to Mathematics for Economists
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Math 1111, Econ 2105, Econ 2106 or consent of the instructor. This course provides an introduction to mathematical techniques that are frequently used in economic analysis. Topics covered include differential and integral calculus and matrix algebra. Emphasis is placed on optimization techniques.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 6680: American Economic History
Syllabus [PDF]
(Cross-listed with Hist 6680). This course covers the development of the American economy with an emphasis upon the changing structure, institutional pattern, and performance of the system.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8000: Special Topics in Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
This course provides a graduate-level treatment of topics in economics. The course can be repeated when topics vary. The course is intended primarily for master's students.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8010: Math Essentials for Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
This course provides an introduction to mathematical techniques frequently used in economic analysis. Topics include differential and integral calculus, and matrix algebra. Emphasis is placed on the application of mathematics to topics in economic theory, and helping develop the math skills required for advanced study of economics. This course is designed with the beginning Ph.D. economics student in mind and is only available as audit credit.
2.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8030: Mathematics for Economists
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 6030. This course covers the elements of mathematical analysis, classical optimization techniques (Lagrange technique), and linear and nonlinear programming, with applications to economics, particularly comparative statistics.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8080: Economics of the Public Sector
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 2106 and PAUS 8141. Analysis of the role of government in the economy. Survey of the problems of monopoly, government regulation, externalities, public goods, and income redistribution. Emphasis on measuring the output and costs of government services. Survey of public sector decision-making techniques such as benefit-cost analysis.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8100: Applied Microeconomic Analysis
PhD Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 3910 and Econ 6030 or MGS 9910. This course provides comprehensive coverage of microeconomic topics by analyzing the applications of the theory. A graphical and intuitive approach is stressed in addition to the mathematical. Topics include both the standard and the new consumer theory, production and cost analysis, modern theories of the firm and markets, and basic welfare economics. Applications useful to business students are also provided.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8110: Macroeconomic Analysis
PhD Syllabus [PDF]
MA Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 3900 and Econ 6030 or MGS 9910. This course covers the theory of aggregate demand and supply, sector demand functions (consumption, investment, money), disequilibrium models, economic growth, inflation, unemployment and expectations, stabilization, and control.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8120: Optimization and Partial Equilibrium Analysis
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100. This course provides an in-depth analysis of utility theory and consumer demand functions, the importance of different market structures on the price and output decisions of business firms, and the pricing of factor inputs.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8130: Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8110 and Econ 8030. This is the first of two advanced macroeconomic theory courses designed to bring graduate students to the frontier of current research. Topics include disequilibrium models, the real business cycle, the open economy, economic growth, stochastic macroeconomics, and control analysis.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8220: Human Resources and Labor Markets
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 3910 and MBA 7030. The course examines the operation of labor markets, the determination of labor supply, labor demand, and wages, and the impact that market forces and institutions have on the practice of human resource management and employment relations. A variety of public policy issues related to the labor market are also considered.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8230: Experimental Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100 or MBA 7030. This course introduces the student to economics experiments, providing the tools and concepts to evaluate and conduct economics experiments. Students will be encouraged to think about the empirical and policy implications of theories taught in other economics classes and to learn skills that are used to conduct empirical analysis (using both experimental and field data). We consider the historical development of experimental economics, market experiments (where policy issues such as market power and regulation are considered), bargaining and games (where we will focus on bargaining and collective action problems), and individual decision-making experiments (focusing on decision making under risk).
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8300: Urban Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8080 or Econ 3910. This course examines the underlying causes of urban economic problems and evaluates alternative public policies for dealing with specific problems including congestion, discrimination, poverty, affordable housing, and central city decay. Emphasis is placed on the spatial characteristics of the urban economy as well as on market failures arising from the presence of externalities.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8310: Economics of Educational Policy
Syllabus [PDF]
Since the publication in 1982 of A Nation At Risk there has been far-reaching proposals to reform the structure, financing, accountability systems, and operation of public schools. This course explores how economist think about educational policy and presents the empirical evidence associated with these policies. We will cover many of the major reforms which have received attention, such as education vouchers, charter schools, site-based management, school accountability systems, merit pay and comprehensive urban school reforms.


ECON 8320: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics and Theory
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 2106 or Econ 8100 or PAUS 8141 or MBA 7030 or consent of the instructor. The goal of this course is to stimulate critical thinking about today's environment and natural resource problems and the public policies designed to alleviate them. It attempts to broaden students' approaches to evaluating the state of their environment and the policies that affect the environment through critical analyses of case studies concerning current environmental issues. Students will gain experience in applying principles of economic analysis to evaluate today's environmental issues and public policy.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8380: Directed Readings in Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.
1.000 TO 6.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8430: Theory of the Firm and Business Strategy
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100. An application of microeconomic theory and industrial organization to topics for internal firm organization and strategic business decision-making. Topics vary, but typically include transactions cost analysis and empirical implications, multi-product cost concepts, vertical integration, product differentiation and product quality, durable good pricing, innovation and patents, spatial competition, delivered (base point) pricing, price discrimination, product building, network economies and information implications, and special topics in regulatory economies and transitional adjustments in deregulated industries.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8440: Industrial Organization and Antitrust Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 3910 or MBA 7030. This course applies microeconomic analysis to the study of firm strategies and industry behavior, with special emphasis on those horizontal and vertical interactions that have been subject to antitrust scrutiny. Specific examples include price fixing, mergers, tying contracts, exclusive dealer and territorial arrangements, price discrimination, boycotts and reciprocity, and various predation strategies. Doctrinal disputes are explored and specific cases studied in light of the academic literature in industrial organization.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8460: Economics of the State and Local Public Sector
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8080 or PAUS 8141 or MBA 7030. This course focuses on the application of economic principles to fiscal decisions of state and local governments. Three major topics are discussed: the description and analysis of revenue sources including taxes, lotteries, and debt; intergovernmental fiscal relations including grants, school-aid programs, and the allocation of functions between levels of government; and the provision of public services.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8470: International Public Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8080 or PAUS 8141 or MBA 7030. This course is a survey of topics in international public economics with an emphasis on world-wide practices. The purpose of the course is to provide students with case studies of international experiences developed using standard tools of public economics so that students can analyze these and other topics outside the classroom. The course uses the concepts of public economics (public goods, externalities, economic efficiency, equity, and income distribution) to analyze issues such as the following: Which level of government should provide which goods? How should a tax system be structured in developing, transitional, and developed economies? How many levels of government should exist? How can taxes be more effectively collected? At the end of the class, students will be familiar with the more important policy questions facing countries around the world and will be better equipped to analyze alternative policy reforms.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8500: History of Economic Thought
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 2106. This course deals with the development of political economy from its Greek origins through the twentieth century. The continuity of intellectual and economic thought and their relationship to changing social and political settings are stressed. Particular emphasis is placed on the Classical and neo-Classical authors and their critics.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8600: Economics of Development
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8740. This course examines the microeconomic foundations of issues of development in poor countries. The course will focus on the study of household behavior and the analysis of how institutions in developing countries work. Topics include the neoclassical unitary household model, intra-household bargaining and allocation, the effect of incomplete and imperfect markets on labor and land market arrangements, savings and credit institutions in the face of imperfect information, and risk sharing and its effects on decisions, and social interactions in decision-making.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8730: Econometrics I: Statistical Foundations
Syllabus [PDF]
This course covers probability and statistical tools necessary for studying econometrics. Topics covered include basic techniques of probability theory, estimation, hypothesis testing, and maximum likelihood methods. Applications of these concepts to economic problems and illustrations from economics are emphasized.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8740: Applied Statistics and Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
This course develops basic knowledge of applied statistics and applied econometrics with particular emphasis on the relationship between economic variables. The first part of the course reviews statistical measures, random variables, and probability distributions. It will examine the role of a random sample and estimation and testing of parameters. The second part will introduce estimation approaches such as simple ordinary least squares and then multiple regression. These techniques will be applied to real data for the purpose of policy analysis in areas as diverse as health, labor markets, finance, development, and taxation.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8750: Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: MGS 9920. This course provides a study of linear econometric methods. Subjects cover the classical linear regression model, generalized least squares, and an introduction to a symptotic distribution theory. Topics such as maximum likelihood testing, specification testing, violations of the classical assumption, and dichotomous choice models will be examined.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8760: Advanced Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8750 or MGS 9950. This course covers a variety of advanced topics in econometrics. Standard theory is reviewed and extended. Subjects include maximum likelihood, limited dependent variables, method of moments estimation, and simultaneous systems estimation.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8770: Topics in Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8750 and Econ 8760. This course extends the student's knowledge of modeling and estimation in econometrics. Two important topics will be considered: time series and limited dependent variables. Students will cover stationarity, erogodicity, ARMA, ARIMA, and unit roots. Limited dependent variables models such as probit, logit, multinomial logit, nested logit, and duration models will be considered under the second topic.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8780: Financial Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8740 The course provides background in financial econometric methods to conduct applied empirical work using financial data. The topics covered are predictability of asset returns; modeling of volatility (ARCH-GARCH and stochastic volatility); high-frequency data models; extreme values and VaR; multivariate time series analysis (VAR, cointegration, principal components, factor analysis); continuous-time models; and econometrics of option pricing models and term-structure of interest rates.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8790: Time Series Econometrics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: ECON 8750. This course is designed to provide students with the necessary theoretical and applied tools to conduct research involving time series data. The topics covered are stationary univariate (ARMA) and multivariate (VAR), and nonstationary univariate (unit roots) and multivariate (spurious regressions and cointegration) time series models; forecasting, estimation and asymptotic theory in the context of time series models; nonlinear models (ARCH/GARCH, regime shifts) and others.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8840: Applied Statistics and Econometrics II
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: ECON 8740. The course provides training in preparing and managing data and introduce estimation approaches such as discrete choice models, truncated and censored regression models, panel data analysis, instrumental variable models, and evaluation methods. These techniques will be applied to real data for the purpose of policy analysis in the areas of labor markets, industrial organization, finance, economic development, and taxation.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8850: International Trade
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 3910 or MBA 7030. This course develops an understanding of the economic basis for trade. It also examines trade policies nations adopt, common markets, international resources flows, and the multinational corporation.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8860: Economics of Global Finance
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 2105 and Econ 2106. This course deals with the functioning of the international monetary system and its financial markets which set or influence foreign exchange rates. It develops an open economy macro model showing balance of payments equilibrium, and assesses policies to deal with imbalances. It examines the impact of international capital flows.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 8990: Thesis Research
Thesis research for students in the MA-EC program.
1.000 TO 15.000 Credit Hours


ECON 8999: Masters Research in Economics
May be repeated for credit; does not count toward degree requirements. This course is designed for graduate research and teaching assistants seeking to conduct supervised research on topics related to duties or instructional technologies. A grade of S or U will be assigned based on attendance and participation in departmental research activities.
3.000 TO 12.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9000: Doctoral Research
Doctoral students who have not yet passed their field examinations and are not registered in nine or more hours of course work on their program of study must register for this course to satisfy continuous registration requirements. A grade of S or U will be assigned based on attendance and participation in departmental research activities.
1.000 TO 15.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9070: General Equilibrium and Welfare
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8120. This course deals with the existence, stability, and uniqueness of multimarket equilibrium and the welfare properties of such equilibrium.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 9080: Topics in Macroeconomic Theory
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8130. This second course in advanced macroeconomic theory covers special topics in contemporary macroeconomics. While some topics may vary from year to year in response to theoretical developments, primary emphasis is placed upon the overlapping generations model, money, multiple equilibria, and optimal consumption.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9180: Economics of Uncertainty
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8110. Topics in the economics of uncertainty including the utility analysis of choices involving risk, models of risk aversion, the theory of the firm under uncertainty, information and search models, and market equilibrium under uncertainty.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9190: Applied Game Theory
Syllabus [PDF]
The purpose of this course is to introduce the basic tools of game theoretical analysis to graduate students in economics and other subjects. Topics include basic decision theory and measurement of payoffs, games in normal (strategic) and extensive forms, Nash equilibrium and its refinements, existence results, perfect and imperfect information, mixed strategies, introduction to repeated games, games with incomplete information, and cooperative games. Many applications of game theory in economics and other subjects will be discussed.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9220: Advanced Labor Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8750. This course provides a theoretical and empirical foundation for the analysis of issues in the areas of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital. There is a strong emphasis on the policy implications of the theoretical models and empirical techniques studied.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 9230: Topics in Advanced Labor Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8750. This course is designed to familiarize the advanced Ph.D. student with the current state of the labor economics literature in a broad range of topic areas and with the theoretical and empirical foundations on which that literature is built. The topics included will vary from year to year.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9300: Seminar in Urban Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8300 or equivalent. This course covers economic theory, concepts, and methods of analysis for the study of the structure, operation, and development of urban economics. Theories and evidence are reviewed in the areas of spatial economics, urban transportation, housing markets, urban poverty, and local public finance.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9310: Environmental and Resource Economics I
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8120. This course is part of a two-course sequence designed to provide students with a working knowledge of the most important models and analytical techniques used in the design of public policy for the management and conservation of natural and environmental systems; environmental benefits measurement; and dynamic models of natural resource management.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9320: Environmental and Resource Economics II
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8120. This concluding section of environmental and resource economics will focus the skills developed in Environmental and Resource Economics I toward using theoretical models and analytical techniques associated with contemporary environmental and natural resource management problems.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 9330: Regional Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8300 or equivalent. The course examines the structure and development of regional economies, the causes of growth among regions, and the location of economic activity within an economic system. The role of factor mobility and other determinants of growth will be covered.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9340: Experimental Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: ECON 8120. This course is a research class in experimental economics that is intended to expose students to a varied set of experimental economics research papers to guide them to think about economics from the perspective of an empirical science. The course provides students with a working knowledge of techniques for conducting experiments in economics and helps them design their own experiment(s).
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9450: Advanced Public Economics I
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100. This is an advanced course that focuses on the theory of and recent research on public expenditures. Topics include: Public goods, externalities, cost benefit analysis, and bureaucracy.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9460: Advanced Public Economics II
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100. This is an advanced course that focuses on the theory of recent research on taxation. Topics covered include: tax incidence, incentive effects of taxation, and welfare analysis of taxation.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top

ECON 9500: Dissertation Research
Doctoral students who have passed the field examinations must register for this course each term (excluding summer term) until graduation to satisfy the continuous registration requirement. A grade of IP (indicating satisfactory progress was made on the dissertation) or U (indicating lack of satisfactory progress) is assigned each term. At the end of the term during which the dissertation is completed/defended, a grade of S (satisfactory) or U (unsatisfactory) will be assigned to the student.
1.000 TO 3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9510: Dissertation Workshop
Prerequisite: completion of Ph.D. course work. This course provides a forum for the development and implementation of dissertation topics and research. In-depth analysis of selected economic literature is conducted with an emphasis on effective research strategies and techniques. Students are expected to make presentations regarding their own research ideas to gain constructive criticism in a supportive environment.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9800: International Trade Theory
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: Econ 8100. A rigorous development of the pure theory of international trade, examining the economic factors which in the long-run determine the structure of trade. The classical, neoclassical, and modern theories of international trade; the gains from trade; and factor movements are all analyzed in detail. Trade theory is also applied to commercial policy and economic integration.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9880: International Monetary Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisites: Econ 8100 and Econ 8110. This course deals in a systematic fashion with the monetary aspects of international trade and investment. Topics covered include the foreign exchange market, the balance of payments, adjustment under alternative monetary systems, international capital movements, and policies to maintain external and internal balance.
3.000 Credit Hours


ECON 9940: Workshop in Experimental Economics
Syllabus [PDF]
Prerequisite: ECON 9340. This workshop is intended to support dissertation research by Ph.D. students while encouraging Ph.D. students to work and interact with several faculty members on a continuing basis. The course integrates research seminar presentations in experimental economics by resident faculty and visiting scholars into the Ph.D. field research experience. The course prepares Ph.D. students to write and submit research papers for professional journal review.
3.000 Credit Hours

Back to Top